Up-Load UK, Gigs News & reviews Kerrang XXV Tour Review

The Kerrang XXV tour: celebrating 25 years of one of the best rock magazines around. Kerrang chose the line up for this tour to represent some of the best fresh talent around, and they chose well.

The Brixton Academy was glowing with green neon, and looking deceptively small from the front. The show was completely sold out so naturally the queue went round the block and more, and that was 20 minutes after the doors had opened. In fact, it took so long to get in that I missed the whole of Aiden's set.

So... I arrived about half way through Still Remains set. They really tore the stage up, but I can't really describe their genre of music. So what that they scream in the verse and sing in the chorus - it the sound of Still Remains and they are great at it. Lead singer TJ is a wonderful frontman, and Still Remains have no problem reducing the crowd to a load of moshing, sweating fans. I was worried I'd missed them performing The Worst Is Yet To Come, but luckily I hadn't; TJ ripped off his black shirt to reveal a Union Jack vest, and carried on the set. They left the crowd rocked to the core.

It must have been less than 10-15 minutes until Hawthorne Heights took the stage. Probably the most 'emo' band on the bill, but I wouldn't insult them. They opened with Niki FM, but sadly rather than being a statement of intent it felt like it washed over most of the audience. It took another song to break the ice, but one that ice was broken the atmosphere improved. The Silence In Black And White really is a quality album, and their non-stop touring has made their live performance tight and fine tuned. The second the intro to Ohio Is For Lovers hit the room, everyone was listening - you can't dismiss a song that good. Not a single person remained silent or still! They played a couple of songs from their new album - If Only You Were Lonely - and they are absolute corkers. Hawthorne Heights are a punch in the face of anyone who says emotional music has no balls.

The four screens show a loop slideshow of covers of Kerrang from 1981 to 2006, one for each year. Every time the cover featuring Matt Tuck of Bullet For My Valentine rolls around the crowd (including me) scream hysterically. Young metallers Bullet For My Valentine truly have gone from nothing to heroes in a year.

When they arrive onstage the KXXV banner drops to reveal the band logo; Bullet For My Valentine make the stage their own, surely feeling quite at home at these larger venues by now. The intro music comes in...
BANG! Big flamethrowers are really appreciated as it's totally freezing! The Bullet boys slam into Her Voice Resides, and leave the audience a break to breathe, only to quickly introduce the next song. The Poison is a quality album, completely flawless. They are recording tonight's show for their DVD, so watch out for me if you buy it, haha.
They play an adrenaline packed set, and they throw in songs from the E.P. as well as the album. The leave the audience gagging for more. They return like kings from a battle, and throw the audience into Hand Of Blood. No less than 6 circle pits form, and for the last track - The End - lead singer Matt Tuck demands one massive pit. All those who cannot get into the first pit make surrounding smaller pits, until the entire floor is a huge swirling mass of people.
Fireworks explode, steam shoots out, the pyrotechnics are cool, but the music is like a nuclear assault.

Going by what Kerrang says, 2006 is going to be one fantastic year for rock!